The 13th Anthology
by Ragnell 37
Summary: Before they were the in the infamous Organization XIII, Ienzo, Aeleus, Even, Dilan, Braig, and Xehanort were apprentices. The choices they made then would affect the future of all the worlds. Discover the start of the spread of darkness.
1. Chapter 1:1

_First off, this story is meant to be very sad, so if you're looking for a happy story about Disney kids running around with magical keys, look elsewhere. It's rated T just in case it gets a little intense later on (nothing too overly graphic and hardly any romance, so don't worry about suggestive content). This work is separated into 6 parts, with untitled chapters to split up the parts into readable chunks._

_ Each part will tell the story of a different one of Ansem's apprentices, starting some time before they become Nobodies and ending at varying times after they become Nobodies. I'll begin with Ienzo and work backwards to Xehanort. The parts are also meant to flow together and, if read in order, they should tell a complete story. I really felt compelled to do this because I couldn't stand that Nomura never gave the Org. XIII members better back-stories. And darn it, if he won't, I will! Oh, also, **There are very minor spoilers for Birth by Sleep in the first four parts (like why Ienzo is an apprentice), and crazy-heavy spoilers in the last two. **(Heh, good ol' Xehanort and Braig)_

The 13th Anthology

Part 1: The Illusionist

Chapter 1:1

It was time. That single thought ran again and again through Ienzo's mind as he strode through the wide corridor towards his master's study in the back of the castle. His uncharacteristic eagerness shone through his usually grim expression in the form of a small grin under his short nose and bright blue eyes. As he rounded a corner and approached a tall door, the thirteen-year-old boy quickly brushed aside the long, blue-gray bangs on the right side of his face and adjusted the collar of his small lab coat.

It had been more than two months since he had kindly 'suggested' to his master, Ansem, that they build a newer, larger, laboratory to facilitate Ansem's research into the darkness of the heart. For months Ienzo had sat in anticipation; waiting, watching, and preparing for when the real experiments would begin. His fellow apprentice, Even, had recently told him that once the laboratory was finished they could examine the practicality of using the power of darkness as an energy source for the world. Not exactly what Ansem expected the lab to be used for, no doubt, but it intrigued Ienzo greatly.

Of course, simple energy was useless, Ienzo knew. As the ruler of the world of Radiant Garden, Ansem had already seen to it that there was enough energy to go around. Even the power of light was sufficient for that. But Ienzo hypothesized that there were other, more unorthodox, uses for darkness. One use in particular fascinated him.

Ienzo reached out and rapped his hand on the cold, metal office door. Almost immediately the door swung open, revealing a tall man in a blue and red guard uniform. The man adjusted the eye-patch over his right eye and gestured for Ienzo to enter the room. As Ienzo walked in, the man reached out and ruffled the boy's hair, messing up his bangs again.

"Good luck, kiddo," the man said with a smirk.

"I will be fine, Braig," Ienzo retorted coldly. "And you are not to refer to me as 'kiddo'." Behind his emotionless demeanor, Ienzo was fuming. It irritated him to no end that Braig had the audacity to call him 'kiddo' just because of his age and height. They were both apprentices, even colleagues, and yet Braig thought he could say whatever he pleased about Ienzo. Age was nothing! Ienzo's mind was leagues beyond anyone else's, except maybe Xehanort's.

Ienzo bit his lip and glared at Braig, who was looking down at Ienzo with mild interest. That was the one practical use of the darkness, Ienzo thought bitterly: to silence all the criticisms of his fellow apprentices. With the power of darkness, he knew he could build himself a better body and become so powerful that the others would have no choice but to respect him. With darkness at his side, his age would no longer matter. And now, it was finally time. This was the beginning.

Braig nodded at Ienzo, grinned mischievously, and slid a hand over his slicked-back, greasy black hair. Without another word, the man exited the room and silently shut the door behind him. Ienzo shook his head and approached the large desk in the middle of the small, circular room. Behind the desk sat his master, Ansem, looking quite sagely with his light hair, pristine lab coat, and red scarf.

Ansem stood slowly from his tall chair and said, "Ah, Ienzo, are you ready for the procedure?"

Ienzo nodded dutifully.

"Good, then follow me," Ansem said kindly. The man walked over to the left side of the room and placed his palm against the wall. There was a flash, and a small portion of the wall under Ansem's hand glowed green. The room shook slightly and the entire wall disappeared with another flash. Ansem walked quickly into the newly appeared hallway, with Ienzo close behind. They emerged on a glass walkway over a massive room filled with hundreds of research pods protruding from the wall. The walkway, which sat along the wall hundreds of feet above the ground, led to a small room with nothing but a large computer inside. Ienzo sat in anticipation as Ansem pressed several buttons on the computer to activate an elevator just outside the room. The apprentice quickly followed his master into the elevator, which took them to the ground floor of the chamber.

The two then proceeded down a short staircase to a large platform at the foot of the many columns of glass pods. Ansem stopped before a light on the floor, and the ground before them opened up, revealing a tall spiral staircase stretching deep underground. Ansem immediately walked down the newly revealed staircase, but Ienzo lingered for a few seconds, glancing up to the glass window on the front of the computer room far above. In the window he could see Braig peering down from above the computer. Braig glanced at Ienzo and nodded curtly. Ienzo grinned and headed down the staircase after Ansem.

Everything was going according to plan.

* * *

Usually, being unable to move worried Ienzo. After he had barely escaped the fire that he was told killed both of his parents, he had a hard time sitting still unless he knew at least one fast way out of any given room. Typically, being strapped down to a lab table was enough to send him into a small panic attack, but it didn't seem to phase him at all when Ansem pulled the leather strap over his bare chest and latched it to the other side of the large, cushioned table. The prospect of gaining the power of darkness had him completely absorbed.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Ansem asked one last time, looking both concerned and extremely eager. Ienzo couldn't help but notice that Ansem was almost as excited as he was.

"Yes, master," he said, unable to hide his enthusiasm.

Ansem nodded and attached two cold, metal sensors to Ienzo's chest. He walked over to the large computer monitor in the corner of the small lab room and keyed in several short commands.

Holding his hand over a steel lever he said, "This first test should bring forth some of the darkness in you heart and quantify it's overall energy. I've already performed this test on Xehanort in the old lab, so I would like to compare your results with his.' After pausing for one final second, he pulled the lever down, causing the equipment around the room to clunk and beep and whir.

Ienzo quickly saw the lights around the room dim and felt a strange sensation in his chest. All the sudden, without warning, he was laughing. Not an amused laugh, but a wild, uncontrollable laughter that wracked his entire body. The computer screens around the room began to blur and shatter as a dark aura rose up from Ienzo, who was still thrashing about in hysterics.

From the corner of his eye, Ienzo saw Ansem quickly throw down three levers, shutting down the main computer. But the dark aura remained hovering around Ienzo. The frantic old man dashed across the room and pressed three buttons on a small computer screen by the door, which was flickering on and off rapidly. Immediately, all the computers became silent, and all the lights in the room shut off.

Ienzo sat gasping on the table, desperately in need of air. Ansem ran over and released the strap that kept him lying on the table, as the lights above blinked back on. Ienzo remained flat on his back, his breathing slowly becoming less ragged.

It had felt so good, being filled with darkness. The power that had surged through him, it was so much! He hadn't meant to laugh like that, but he couldn't help it. He wanted the power so badly. Finally feeling it run through him was almost unbearable.

Ansem left Ienzo for a moment and went back to turning on the computers with a stern look on his face. As Ienzo waited for him to finish, he tried to imagine what Ansem was thinking. By the worried look on his face, the boy could tell that Ansem was concerned that he had been harmed. But then again, Ansem was also most likely suspicious of Ienzo's eager reaction to the darkness.

As Ansem finished turning on the computers he panted, "Ienzo, are you hurt?"

"No, of course not, Master Ansem."

"Good... I was worried that something serious happened to you after that spasm," he said calmly. "Since the computers seem to have malfunctioned and they weren't able to observe any data, I'd like to perform a quick psychological test. Now, first, do you feel at all different from before the experiment?"

"Like...?" Ienzo started, wondering what Ansem was hinting at.

"Do you feel angry? Or depressed? Or do you feel jealous? Any emotions that you would not normally feel at a time like this."

Ienzo thought for a moment and said truthfully, "I feel... exhilarated. Like I just won a marathon, or discovered a new scientific formula."

Ansem's brow furrowed, and he moved to the computer again. As he typed, he mumbled, "No... it's not right... not what I predicted... it can't be..."

Ienzo sat anxiously, worried that he had said something wrong. Obviously, Ansem expected him to feel more gloomy after the test, not more excited. What was his master thinking about him now? Did Ansem suspect that he longed for the darkness? What would he say if he found that Ienzo had used the experiment as a way to channel his own darkness. Ienzo just wished he could hide; that he could disappear.

"Now, I have a few more questions." Turning to check on his apprentice Ansem suddenly cried, "Ienzo!? Ienzo, where are you? Ienzo, can you hear me?"

The apprentice sat, bewildered, at the edge of the table, looking directly at Ansem. The man ran over to the table, and waved his arms through the air as if he couldn't see the startled boy. Ienzo looked down, but saw nothing unusual about himself. With a smack, Ansem's hand ran right into Ienzo's face, causing the man to jump in surprise.

As if prompted by their contact, Ansem suddenly seemed able to see Ienzo again. His startled expression slowly relaxed, and his shoulders slumped slightly.

"Master, are you all right?" Ienzo asked with genuine concern, looking at the man's still frightened face. What had just happened?

"Y-Yes, of course. I just... you...never mind. I think we're finished for today. You may return to the library with Even if you'd like."

"But what about the other questions?"

"We're finished for today," Ansem repeated.

"...Yes, master, of course." Ienzo quickly hopped off the lab table, pulled on his shirt and lab coat, and jogged out into the long hallway that led to the spiral staircase. He ran up the staircase, rode up the elevator beyond it, and was about to leave Ansem's computer room when Braig stepped around the corner from the balcony.

"Well, kid?" the grinning man asked curiously, "What happened?"

"Nothing," Ienzo replied, trying to push past Braig.

"Well it didn't sound like nothing to me," Braig said, his grin widening.

"I could hear you laughing all the way up on the balcony over there. It sounded like you were having a pretty good time."

"It was nothing," Ienzo said again, his temper rising. "What about you? Did you do it?"

"What, hack the comput-"

"Hey!" Ienzo interrupted angrily nodding his head slightly in the direction of a security camera in the corner of the room. "You can explain the details later. Just did you, or didn't you do it?"

"Don't worry, kiddo," Braig said lazily. "I hacked the camera too. It's showing a still image of an empty room with no sound for the next five minutes. As for the computer..." He pulled out a small computer disk from his pocket and waved it in the air. "This will let us run whatever programs we want on it. No records are left on the computer, and there's no way to view our experiments without this disk and a password. We're untraceable."

"And we can access the secret passageway?"

"Yeah, I reprogrammed the pad in Ansem's study to recognize any of our palms. We're set."

"That's all well and good," Ienzo said, slightly sarcastically, "but won't it look suspicious that there will be no video footage of me leaving the lab right now?"

"Fine," Braig said in exasperation. "If it will make your paranoid little brain happy, go stand around the corner by the elevator."

Ienzo walked irritably around the corner and heard Braig clicking away on the computer. The man's voice came quickly from around the corner. "Walk through the room in three...two...one." Ienzo entered the computer room again and walked quickly to Ansem's study. There he met up with Braig again, who led him out the door and into the hall. But they weren't heading for the library like Ansem thought. There were too many cameras in the library. No, they were headed for the one secret place in the castle: the basements.

Xehanort would want to know what had happened.

* * *

It took nearly a half an hour for all of Ansem's apprentices to arrive in the basement, which left Ienzo sitting awkwardly on a small wooden bench with Braig and Even, both of whom were always lurking about the castle during the day. Even was a tall, thin man with long blonde hair and large green eyes. He typically wore a long lab coat, but was only wearing a dress shirt at the moment. All the other apprentices considered Even to be the most scientifically accomplished of the group, but Ienzo saw him for what he really was. The man was a pompous fool who cared more for his test tubes than his colleagues, and wasn't actually a good enough researcher to make up for it. And the fact that Even claimed he was 'raising' Ienzo didn't help matters.

Dilan and Aeleus finally entered the basements and broke the nervous silence ten minutes later, when they were able to leave their guard posts. They were both tall and muscular, with blue and red uniforms that matched Braig's.

The final apprentice arrived a full fifteen minutes after the two guards. The tall, thin man clad in a white lab coat briskly strode down the steps onto the large platform occupied by the other five apprentices without pausing for a second to address any of them. With a single fluid motion of his hand, he straightened his purple tie and combed through his long, white hair. Two of his long bangs fell back into place in front of his face as his arm returned to his side.

"Glad you could make it, Xehanort," Braig said sarcastically, bowing slightly.

Xehanort ignored him and asked, "Did you all accomplish your objectives?"

"Of course," Braig responded immediately, patting his chest. "When haven't we?"

Xehanort's piercing amber eyes narrowed. "Were there any complications?"

"Besides this cheery little chap over here having a laugh attack, no," Braig replied again, pointing his gloved finger at Ienzo's quite un-cheery expression. The boy's soft cheeks were slowly turning a bright red.

"A laugh attack?" Xehanort asked, obviously becoming irritated with Braig's informal speech.

"It was a reaction to the darkness," Ienzo explained quickly, eager to cut off Braig from saying anything else stupid. He could never trust Braig to tell the whole truth. Braig told whatever truth was most convenient for him, or whichever one got him the biggest laugh.

"A reaction to darkness? What exactly happened?"

"Excuse me," Aeleus interrupted sternly, "but aren't we supposed to be preparing for the next phase of our plan?"

Xehanort smiled and said calmly, "Any reactions to experiments with darkness are important to us." His soft, but commanding voice immediately silenced Aeleus, and made the burly, brown-haired man blush slightly in embarrassment.

Ienzo recognized Xehanort's tone immediately. It was probably his greatest weapon: his harsh, yet compassionate voice. That voice could both pierce like daggers or heal like medicine; and sometimes, it could do both at the same time. His voice was the main reason that, within less than a year, he had risen through the ranks and ascended from the newest of Ansem's six apprentices to the most respected and valued of their number.

Xehanort returned his attention to Ienzo. "Now, as I was asking, what exactly happened?"

"Well... after Ansem attached the probes and started up the darkness amplifier, I started laughing. Really, really hard. I couldn't stop, no matter what I did. So Ansem shut down the computer and told me to leave. That was it. I came here with Braig immediately after, like you ordered."

"Are you sure that was it?" Xehanort asked, staring Ienzo directly in the eyes.

"Um... yes... yeah, mostly," Ienzo said, thinking briefly about how Ansem had acted after the experiment. He wanted to tell Xehanort about how Ansem couldn't see him for a few seconds, but he figured that now wasn't the time. After all, how was he supposed to explain it? Should he say that Ansem was going blind? Or should he say that he had... had turned invisible? No matter how much Ienzo tried to convince himself otherwise, the thought kept creeping back into his mind. One minute he had been wishing that he could disappear, and the next minute he actually _had _disappeared. And right after an experiment with darkness no less! It could have very well been a side effect. But no, he couldn't explain everything now. Xehanort would understand; he would listen to Ienzo, but the others wouldn't, especially not Aeleus or Dilan.

Xehanort watched Ienzo for a second in silence, as if giving him the chance to add anything else. As the second began to drag on, he finally said, "Well then, on to our next plan. I actually think we should keep our intentions hidden for a few more days. Ansem will more than likely allow us to perform several common tests on the darkness of the heart in the new lab, so we shouldn't attempt anything perilous until he inevitably cuts off the experiments."

Dilan slowly shifted his weight and said uneasily, "Xehanort... we need to make haste with our projects. I know the rest of you are content to dally along and wait for the perfect moment to begin, but I am not. You know my predicament, and you know full well that I cannot wait any longer."

Xehanort smiled warmly at Dilan, a tall and bulky man with long, black dreadlocks pulled back into a ponytail. "Worry not, my friend," Xehanort said, "it will not be much longer. If anything distressing occurs while we wait, inform me and we will change our plans to accommodate for you."

Dilan's expression grew slightly less tense. "...You have my gratitude."

"Good. Now, I think we should adjourn for today. You will each be contacted when it is time for us to move to the next phase."

The others nodded and slowly turned to walk up the steps and out of the chamber. Less than a minute later, Xehanort and Ienzo were the only two left on the large, circular platform.

"So what is it you want to tell me?" Xehanort asked.

Ienzo sighed. Of course, Xehanort knew all along what he was thinking. The man never missed a trick. And he read Ienzo as easily as Dilan read poetry.

"There was something else that occurred in the test," Ienzo said quickly. "After Ansem shut the computer down, for a second, he acted like he was unable to see me. And right before that... I had wished I could disappear. I know it sounds ridiculous, but-"

"You think that you became invisible?" Xehanort interrupted softly.

"Yes. It may not be the most believable hypothesis, and there aren't any precedences that I can recall, but I... it seems like it-" Ienzo stopped as he watched Xehanort's mouth twitch into a grin.

"In actuality, I know of a similar case that occurred recently. I noticed certain... talents that I myself manifested after Ansem's and my tests with darkness a month or so ago."

"You mean, you can... turn invisible?"

Xehanort chuckled. "No, not that. But I have observed other, possibly related, anomalies. First, I recorded a significant increase in my physical strength. And not just in one area, but in my arms, legs, and back. Then, two days later, I started seeing things while I interacted with other people. At first, it seemed to be a glowing outline around people. Then, as the outline grew daily, I realized that I was visually observing the darkness in the hearts of those people as an aura surrounding them. I had never heard of such a thing happening before. But it seems now you are experiencing the same phenomena."

"So you think this is normal for people who have encountered darkness?" Ienzo was growing more and more excited by the second. He had a power, something no one else besides Xehanort had. The others thought they were so incredible, because they were _older. _But now Ienzo had real power. He'd show them what someone with darkness on their side was capable of.

"Yes, I do believe that it is a common reaction. In fact, that is one of the reasons I decided to postpone our next phase. I would like to see if we can achieve some control over my, and now your, power."

"How should I prepare?" Ienzo asked. Despite how excited he was, he managed to drag himself back into the realm of logic and reason. He didn't even know exactly what his power _was, _let alone how to control it.

"I would like us to start right now, if that is alright with you."

Ienzo agreed immediately, walking over to sit again on the wooden bench on the side of the platform.

"Now think back," Xehanort said eagerly, walking over to stand in front of Ienzo. "What were you feeling when you disappeared earlier?"

"I... I felt like I wanted to disappear. Ansem asked me how I felt after the test and I answered honestly; I felt exhilarated. He seemed incredibly suspicious about me afterward, so I felt very awkward."

"Try to replicate that feeling," Xehanort urged, smiling broadly now. "Remember what you were thinking. Image that you just said the same thing again."

Ienzo shut his eyes and furrowed his thin brow. How was he supposed to replicate his feeling from before? He had felt guilty and nervous then, but now he felt nothing. He hadn't said anything to make himself feel awkward now.

Ienzo opened his eyes slightly and peered at Xehanort, who was watching intently, with a blank expression. What would he say if Ienzo just sat there, doing nothing until they both gave up. The young apprentice shuddered slightly, closing his eyes again. He couldn't fail now, not after he'd already used darkness once.

Again, Ienzo peeled open his eyes slightly, glancing at Xehanort. The man was still maintaining his emotionless expression, but now he seemed to be much less interested in Ienzo. His pupils wandered around the massive chamber, returning to the younger apprentice only every few seconds. Ienzo growled, jammed his eyes shut again and opened them suddenly, yelling out in frustration.

As he looked down at his legs, he cried out in shock and leaped to his feet. Or rather, he tried to leap to his feet, but instead crashed to the ground after finding that he could no longer see his legs.

"What is it?" Xehanort asked, rushing over to Ienzo's sprawled body. The concerned man knelt down and prodded the young apprentice's chest, trying to elicit a response.

"I-I-I'm invisible!" Ienzo cried, looking over to where his legs should be.

"What?" Xehanort stood erect and backed away from Ienzo, obviously confused. "I can see you perfectly."

"But..." Ienzo stuttered. He was about to continue when he gasped in pain. His entire body suddenly felt numb and sore, like he had just run several miles in the last half a second. But all he had done was fall down. The apprentice grimaced and managed to choke out, "I... I can't see myself at all."

Xehanort scratched his head and looked Ienzo up and down. "It seems," he began, obviously taking note of Ienzo's sudden gasping breath, "that you can choose who can and cannot see you. When you disappeared in front of Ansem, you could see yourself, correct?"

"Yes," Ienzo answered quickly, trying laboriously to move into a sitting position. After several failed attempts, he managed to pull his sore legs in front of him, pointed towards Xehanort.

"Then perhaps you do not have the ability to alter your appearance after all, but rather have the ability to alter how others perceive you. This would explain how certain people are able to see you while others are not."

"You mean I'm..." Ienzo inhaled deeply, already out of breath, "...creating illusions?"

Xehanort smiled. "Yes. Ienzo, the Illusionist. It sounds quite fitting."

Ienzo grinned and lay back. New ideas were already shooting across his brain one after another, all begging for his attention. The things he could do with his new power! If he truly was an illusionist, then could he not, perhaps, affect people's vision of things other than himself? And if he could, could he make certain individuals able to see objects and certain individuals not able to see them? Could he make himself look older?

Ienzo laughed with glee and closed his eyes tightly again, relaxing his mind in an attempt to reappear. He opened his eyes and sat up painfully, glanced down at his legs. They were still invisible.

Slightly angered, Ienzo closed his eyes again. Again, nothing happened. How was he supposed to reverse his power?

"Has your vision returned to normal?" Xehanort asked.

"No," Ienzo said exasperatedly, folding his arms across his chest after trying twice more. "I'm trying as hard as I can to stop using the darkness, but it's not working. The illusion is holding up."

Xehanort frowned, obviously deeply in thought. After nearly a minute, he asked, "Are you... is maintaining the illusion using up your body's energy?"

"No...I don't think so," Ienzo said slowly, trying to judge whether or not he felt more tired than after he fell off the bench. "I felt like I used up a lot of energy when I turned invisible, but I haven't felt anything since then."

Xehanort paused again, muttering quietly to himself. Ienzo tried to guess what he was thinking about, but couldn't really understand what his question meant. What did his energy levels have to do with getting rid of the illusion? Did Xehanort really intend for him to wait until he passed out to become visible again?

"I have a hypothesis," Xehanort said suddenly, looking up at Ienzo and smiling. "I don't think your power works in the way we both assume it does. It seems that your illusions don't require any energy to be maintained. If what you said was correct, they maintain themselves. Because of this, I believe manipulating illusions is more like working a light switch than working a pulley.

"With the pulley, you must use up a relatively large amount of energy to pull down on the rope originally, and then you must constantly exert some energy to keep the rope from rising. To reverse the action of pulling down the rope, you simply stop using energy and let the rope rise on its own. But from what you have told me, it seems doing nothing does not reverse this reaction. Your power must be like a switch. You must use a relatively large amount of energy to turn the switch on, but you don't need to exert any energy to keep the switch on afterwards. To turn the switch off, you must use another large burst of energy and shut it off manually. If this is indeed true of your power, you must make yourself visible again by using darkness again, in the opposite way."

Ienzo stared for a moment, processing the information. As what Xehanort said sank in, Ienzo nodded. It made sense. "I'll try," Ienzo said, closing his eyes yet again. It wasn't hard to think the opposite of what he thought before. Earlier, he had to want to disappear, so this time all he had to do was want to reappear. He was already thinking that one on his own.

As if on cue, an incredible tiredness shot through Ienzo's body, causing him to moan quietly. Ienzo opened his eyes painfully, letting out a strangled sigh of relief as he spotted his legs lying awkwardly on the ground in front of him.

Xehanort patted the young apprentice's leg and stood up slowly. "Excellent. So you can see yourself now?

Ienzo nodded, lying back and trying to relax his aching muscles.

"Good. Now, if it is not too tiring for you, do you think you could try one more illusion?" Xehanort's eyes were wide and hungry as he scanned the boy. It was obvious that he wanted to do some more tests.

Ienzo panted while trying to judge how much energy he had left. "I-I can try. But I can't guarantee...I'll try."

"Fantastic!" Xehanort exclaimed, his eyes gleaming. "Now, I want you to try and change the color, not the visibility, of an object besides yourself. Try you lab coat. If you can, I want you to turn it black. For now, it doesn't matter who you make it black to, just that you make it black. We'll work on altering the vision of specific people some other time."

Ienzo slowly sat up off the floor and stared at his spotless white lab coat. How was he supposed to turn it a different color? To turn invisible, he had to want to disappear. What should he do now, want to change his coat's color? Pretend that he was the coat and that he wanted to turn black?

Taking his best guess, Ienzo closed his eyes again and tried to force himself to imagine that he needed the color of the coat to change; that his life was dependent on the color of his coat changing. For several seconds he sat in anticipation. His heavy breathing was the only thing breaking the silence of the basement.

The tiredness hit Ienzo more quickly this time. One second he was focusing on his coat, and the next he was pitching backwards onto the ground, every muscle in his body crying out in pain. Ienzo thought he could hear Xehanort's voice calling out to him, but before he could understand what he was saying, everything went black.


	2. Chapter 1:2

Chapter 1:2

Ienzo woke on what seemed to be a very soft mattress. As he peeled open his bright blue eyes, a glaring light from the ceiling of the room blinded him. He could already tell that his arms, legs, and chest were extremely sore, and he could taste something bitter in his mouth. Muscles fighting him every inch of the way, the boy slowly shifted his legs over to the side of what seemed to be a bed, and lifted his aching back off the mattress. Ienzo opened his eyes again to find himself inside his bedroom. His ceiling light was on above, and a blue blanket was draped over him.

Needing something to make his sore throat feel better, Ienzo laboriously climbed out of bed, setting the blanket behind him. As he was about to stand and leave the room, the door opened and Even entered quietly.

"Ah, Ienzo!" the man said, obviously startled to see Ienzo out of bed. "I see you're recovering well."

"How-how long have I been unconscious?" Ienzo asked, his throat burning as he talked. Bright sunlight was still streaming through his window, so he knew it couldn't have been too long since he passed out.

"About twenty hours, according to what Xehanort has told us," Even replied, obviously eager to end the conversation.

"Twenty hours!" Ienzo cried, instantly regretting raising his voice; the back of his throat started burning all the more intensely.

"Yes, now I was assigned to check up on you, and it seems you are fine, so if you don't mind, I will excuse myself. It is rather important that I return to my experiments."

"Experiments?" Ienzo said quietly. "What experiments?"

"Oh, yes, I forgot, you've been asleep. Xehanort, Braig, and I have begun experimenting on the darkness of the heart in the new lab, under Ansem's orders. We're each heading up separate projects. Now, again, I really must be going." Without another word, the man spun on his heels and bustled out of the room.

Ienzo considered going back to sleep for a moment, but then decided that it was in his best interest to be a part of the experiments in the lab. After all, he needed to know more about the power of darkness if he intended to master his new ability. And if he wanted the others to respect him, then he'd need to get them to view him as part of the group.

Still slightly groggy, he left his bedroom and headed downstairs quickly, picking up a glass of water from the kitchen on the way, and arriving in the lab only minutes after Even. As Even had said earlier, Xehanort and Braig were working furiously on separate experiments. Aeleus and Dilan were most likely on guard duty, so Ienzo didn't expect to see them.

The youngest apprentice strolled into the lab and took a seat on a stool next to Xehanort, who was examining a slide under a microscope. The gray-headed boy remained silent for a minute, but as he realized that Xehanort hadn't noticed his presence, he asked quietly, "What are you looking at?"

The white-haired man turned around slowly and said, "Ah, Ienzo, Even just mentioned that you woke up. I didn't think you'd be down here so quickly. Anyway, I'm only observing some bacteria. I believe that I may have found a gene related to the body's defense against darkness, so I inserted it into the bacteria's DNA via a plasmid. The bacteria should now be demonstrating several characteristics from the selectable markers in the plasmid. If you'll take a look, the bacteria are now sitting in a dark pool which should-"

"Ienzo!" a deep voice interrupted from near the entrance to the lab. In the doorway stood Ansem, wearing his usual lab coat and red scarf. "Ienzo, what are you doing here?"

Ienzo paused for a moment, trying to discern what response Ansem would want to hear. It seemed Ansem didn't expect to see him in the lab, but the young apprentice couldn't imagine why. Not knowing what else to say, he responded, "I was just going to assist Xehanort with his experiment, sir."

"I have Xehanort scheduled to perform several radiation experiments with the bacteria he just cultured. You know you're not allowed in the lab when he's working with high-level radiation."

"But-" Ienzo started angrily. It was obvious now why Ansem didn't want him there; he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. Normally, he wouldn't mind leaving the lab, but now he had his reputation to think of. He couldn't be seen as a child by the other apprentices.

"My decision is final," Ansem said firmly. "You can help out later when we're doing some more growth tests." Ansem stood unmoving in the doorway, his amber eyes fixed unwaveringly on Ienzo's small blue pupils.

Ienzo's upper lip twitched angrily, but he nodded his head curtly and walked stiffly past Ansem and out of the lab to the dark spiral staircase. The nerve of Ansem to send him out of the lab! He of all people! Ienzo was the one who had first suggested building the lab, and now he couldn't even stand in it. If Braig hadn't been sitting there, looking for any chance to call him immature, he would have argued with the old man until the senile old fool either let him into the lab or kicked him out of the castle.

Spitting on the floor in disgust, Ienzo leaned against a wall to his right and swore under his breath. What was he supposed to do now? Ansem had kicked him out of his workplace, and it wasn't like he had any other projects to work on.

"Gah!" he grunted angrily. What he would give to get into that lab!

Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion hit Ienzo. His knees buckled underneath him, and he slid slowly down the wall, a grimace plastered across his pale face.

Inside the lab, Ansem's voice cried, "Ienzo! I thought I told you to stay out of here during radiation tests!"

What was he talking about? Ienzo hadn't moved. The frowning boy crawled to his feet with a heavy grunt and peered around the corner into the lab. What he saw almost made him scream in surprise.

Inside the doorway, just ten or eleven feet from where he stood, Ienzo spotted the back of his own head. And below it was a perfect replica of the rest of his body.

It seemed he had gotten his wish of getting into the lab.

Ienzo swung his face back away from the entrance to the lab and squished his back flat against the wall outside. It looked like he had to get his power of illusion under control quickly. He clenched his eyes tightly shut and thought as hard as he could about making the new double of himself walk out of the room.

A second passed in absolute silence, as Ienzo prayed that his illusion would move. Another second passed, and Ienzo felt a drip of sweat slide down his brow. Yet another second of nothing. Still, there was no sound from the doorway. Another second passed. Suddenly, Ansem's voice barked from the other room, "Ienzo, where are you going?"

As the real Ienzo heard footsteps exiting the lab, he slowly opened his eyes, still wondering what he'd do when Ansem found two of him in the hall. Ienzo found that he was face to face with the illusion of himself. It was an odd feeling, Ienzo thought briefly. He had spent his entire life seeing himself in the mirror, but seeing himself up close like this was oddly different. It was a bit unnerving. The other Ienzo was staring blankly forward, and stood straight at attention. Not once did he blink. The real Ienzo shut his eyes again and focused on getting rid of the illusion. When he opened his eyes again it was gone, and Ansem was standing in the doorway.

"Ienzo, there you are. What were you trying to prove by walking back in the lab? You disobeyed a direct order that was made for your own safety. I'm very disappointed in you. As of the time being, your lab access is suspended indefinitely."

Ienzo wanted to cry out, to scream at the top of his lungs at Ansem. But that stupid, foolish, dumb, idiotic old man just sat there, staring sadly at Ienzo. What did he have to be sad about? Ienzo wasn't the one being unreasonable, he was!

Holding down his emotions, Ienzo just glared at his master. After staring hatefully into the old man's eyes for what he deemed was long enough to express his dissatisfaction, Ienzo turned and walked sorely up the staircase. While he couldn't get into the lab anymore, he now had a new job to work on: getting control of his ability.

* * *

Ienzo spent the next two hours sleeping soundly in his room in order to build up energy for creating illusions. He remembered that he was only able to produce three illusions before he passed out with Xehanort, so he would need all his strength to practice for any length of time.

After his nap, Ienzo made a quick trip to the kitchen and ate a light dinner to wake himself up. Finally ready for his training, Ienzo pulled closed all the curtains in his room and sat on the edge of his unmade bed, staring intensely at a ripe orange sitting on his desk.

Since he had already tested his ability to make things visible and invisible, he figured that the next logical thing to try was changing the size of objects. An orange seemed best suited to the task, because it was close to round, and its circumference and weight could easily be measured without lab equipment.

Ienzo spontaneously decided that he wanted to make the orange larger first. After all, he hoped that he could make himself taller eventually. Like every time before, Ienzo clenched his eyes shut and balled his hands into a fist. Over and over in his head he wished for the orange to grow larger. He decided that he would try to make the orange exactly two times larger for measurement purposes. As he focused, he even caught himself mumbling, "Twice as big," out loud. Finally, ready to see the result of his work, Ienzo pried open his eyelids. Sitting on his desk was an enormous orange, practically wider than the desk itself. Just from looking at it, he estimated that it was at least ten times larger than the original.

Ienzo gazed in awe at his creation, unable to find words to describe it. It seemed that while he said he wanted it to be twice as big, his mind hadn't quite agreed with him. His arm shaking from his newfound weariness and amazement, Ienzo reached out and prodded the soft peel of the orange. It felt entirely authentic, and squished slightly when he applied light pressure with his palm. Just looking at it, Ienzo would never have guessed that it was just an illusion.

Immensely curious, he hooked a piece of the peel under his fingernail and pulled it up. He popped the peel in his mouth and swished it around, trying to tell if it tasted different.

Still chewing the peel, Ienzo leaned over and wrote in his journal, "_The specimen has no taste whatsoever. It seems that a taste-test is a reliable, though slightly impractical, judge of whether or not an object is real._"

The tired apprentice sat back and stared at the orange, wondering what to test next. There was no way his tape measure would fit around the orange, so measuring the circumference was out of the question. He couldn't fit it on his scale, so a weight test was also impossible. What else was there?

Ienzo quickly recited the five senses to himself, hoping to spark an idea. He had already tested touch, taste, and sight. Testing hearing was probably not a good idea, since any other apprentices who passed by as he dropped the orange would want to know what heavy objects he was moving in his room. So that left the sense of smell.

Ienzo had always prided himself in his extremely astute sense of smell. He didn't know if it was a genetic predisposition or a learned talent, but he was able to identify scents more quickly and accurately than anyone else he knew. When he was younger, he used to offer to bet Even what they were having for dinner every night. The old worrywart would never gamble with him – probably because he didn't want to teach Ienzo any bad habits – but Braig had no such problem with corrupting the minds of minors. Over the course of a few years of meals, Ienzo had probably won at least five hundred munny from the eye-patch wearing idiot.

So as he inhaled deeply, he was surprised to find that he didn't smell anything other than the typical scents of his room. There was not a single trace of the large citrus fruit sitting before him. He leaned forward and took another whiff. This time, he could faintly smell the orange. Leaning back on his bed, he concluded that he must have been smelling the real orange, but he couldn't smell the illusion.

Ienzo pulled his journal onto his lap and scribbled, "_The scent of the original object can still be detected, but the illusion seems to produce no smell whatsoever. This requires further testing._"

The apprentice lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering what he should test next. He could try turning the orange into something other than an orange, to confirm his hypothesis about illusions' scents, but he didn't feel like that was entirely necessary. It wasn't like anyone else he knew could produce illusions. And knowing the smell of illusions was useless if he never needed to identify an illusion he did not produce. He could also try shrinking the orange to less than its original size, since that seemed very unlikely to work; after all, how could he reduce the mass of something? But then again, he was already tired from his two illusions, and any unexpected side effects from shrinking an object could easily knock him unconscious.

Finally sick of sitting around and doing nothing but thinking, Ienzo decided that he should consult Xehanort about what experiment to perform next. He closed his eyes and instantly forced the orange back to its original size. The boy sat up and pushed off the bed to head for the lab, but only after he reached his feet did he realize how weak the illusions had made him. He staggered painfully to the side and almost collapsed back onto the bed as a spinning nausea wracked his head. The room spun through his vision and for a moment he thought he might pass out, but Ienzo quickly focused his mind as hard as he could, and was able to slowly climb up off the bed and to his feet again. There was no way he could get Xehanort's attention in his weakened state without attracting suspicion from Ansem or the others, so he would have to leave Xehanort a message somewhere else.

Eyes watering and breath shaking, the apprentice staggered slowly out of the room and into the corridor. His destination, a small computer room near Ansem's study, was two floors below, so he would need to disguise his weakness on the off chance that Ansem might wander by.

Ienzo straightened up, pulled his lab coat straight and started slowly down the hall, legs still quivering slightly.

* * *

Ienzo glanced one last time down the hall in suspicion as he entered the dark circular chamber lined with computers. After a quick scan, he determined that there were two cameras in the room and ten computers. The cameras and the door made an equilateral triangle, so the door and most of the computers inside were in the view of the cameras. Ienzo made several quick calculations and took a seat at the computer directly to his left, sitting slightly sideways so that his back shielded the screen from the cameras' gaze.

The apprentice quickly logged on as an anonymous user and loaded the internet browser. He slipped out a small flash drive from his pocket and inserted it into the computer as discreetly as possible. As long as it worked properly, he would be able to completely erase any of his actions from the computer's memory. From the internet homepage, Ienzo clicked on a free email link and entered in the username '' and the password 'ansem'. The inbox and main screen popped up on the screen, and he clicked on the large button that said 'New Message'.

As soon as the new window for the email appeared, he pulled up another window and looked up his usual decoy site: a long essay on the merits of a complex and intriguing biological procedure involving the insertion of new genes into complex mammals. The essay was at least five screens long, so Ienzo assumed that Ansem would not think it was unusual that he had looked up the essay multiple times, even though he had actually memorized all the useful data the first time he had read it. In fact, the old man probably wouldn't even check what sites he had been viewing. Ansem was far too trusting of his apprentices. But still, Ienzo couldn't allow there to be any chance of being discovered. One miscalculation, and all the apprentices' plans were for naught.

With the decoy essay up, Ienzo returned to the new message on the email and quickly typed a short letter.

_Another,_

_I have briefly experimented with the new weapon as you requested. But I am curious about which parameters you would like me to examine for our operation. I have already learned that the weapon is odorless and tasteless, but is otherwise undetectable. I will perform any tests you request within the week, and I will report back to you on the results. For reasons I am sure you understand, I think it is safest to continue our correspondence via this connection._

Ienzo leaned back and read over the message quickly. It had been Xehanort who had first devised the method of leaving emails saved on an online email outbox. He had told all the apprentices the username and password for his account, and for several months he had left short emails signed 'Another' for them to read. Of course, the messages would occasionally call for short meetings, but the emails provided such easy and safe communication that the meetings were rarely necessary and often somewhat pointless.

The process of leaving messages remained unchanged for nearly two months, mainly because all the apprentices were content with the system as it was. That was, all the apprentices except Ienzo. The youngest of the apprentices was immediately curious about the name 'Another' that Xehanort always signed with. It was obvious that the older apprentice would want to use a pseudonym, but Ienzo constantly wondered what the word 'another' meant. It wasn't until Xehanort dropped an unusual comment about his love of anagrams that the younger apprentice discovered the word's importance; the word 'another' as well as the username 'no heart', were anagrams of Xehanort's name, without the x.

So it was Ienzo that first devised the method of sending messages back to Xehanort. Opposite of what Xehanort had done, he created an anagram of his name with an x added. He saved a message in the outbox, just as Xehanort had done countless times, and signed the letter with his new name. Less than a month later, all four of the other apprentices had followed suit and created their own pseudonyms. His one act had revolutionized their methods of communication. And now he had more need than ever to send information to Xehanort quickly and silently.

As Ienzo proofread his new message one last time, he typed a short name below the paragraph. His pseudonym...

_Zexion_


	3. Chapter 1:3

Author's Note: _Sorry about taking forever to put this up. I've had it done for a long time, I just honestly forgot about this site. Whoops. I'm working on the next part right now, and I'll post that here when I finish. _

Chapter 1:3

The next two weeks were a blur before Ienzo, as the days melded together and the hours rushed by in monotonous yet fascinating race. Every morning he would wake two hours before Ansem and creep down to the computer lab below to send and receive messages from Xehanort and the others. During the day, he would continue his studies under Ansem's direction, and then at night he would practice his illusions until he had used up all his remaining energy.

As the experiments with darkness progressed further and further in the basement lab, the other apprentices began leaving logs of their results for Ienzo to review during his free time, alongside instructions for him from Xehanort. Their most recent experiments both confused and baffled him.

A week after the studies had begun, Xehanort had made a great discovery, which altered the very nature of their work. He found that when a heart collapses into darkness, it leaves behind a small creature, which he fittingly named a Heartless.

When Ienzo first read of the anomoly, he could hardly believe the claim. In an extensive brief on his findings, Xehanort stated that the Heartless were small black quadrupeds with two long antennae and bright yellow eyes. They moved in erratic patterns and seemed to spend much of their time on two legs.

The image that appeared in Ienzo's mind was almost comical, a far cry from what he assumed a creature of darkness would appear like. So of course a new flood of information regarding the creatures was sent to Ienzo within the week, covering their creation, behavior, composition, and potential dangers. Braig even managed to take several pictures, revealing the two known species of Heartless. Ienzo spent hours in the computer room every day, memorizing all the information.

Meanwhile, to cover up for his reading, he had to procure dozens of new scientific articles to use as decoys. In addition to that, he had to memorize each of the decoys to complete his disguise, should Ansem ask him about the contents of the articles. The more Ienzo thought about it, the more he realized that nearly all of his life was dedicated to reading about science.

Most common people would never read as many scientific articles as he had in their entire life. As he sat in his room or walked the halls, he would often see children his age running through the streets outside the castle, but he had never once gone out and joined them. What was the point? They weren't like him. He had no parents, no school, and certainly no friends. All he had was his research. What was the point of having all the things the children had? Parents and friends only got in way, as Ansem had so spectacularly demonstrated weeks before, and both groups constantly bog children down with low expectations and useless emotion. Colleagues were more frank, and much more useful in correcting mistakes than parents or friends. As for school, it was entirely useless to Ienzo. He had learned everything any school could teach him from a few years of research with Ansem. And as much as Ansem would likely deny it, Ienzo knew that that was truly the reason the boy had been taken to the castle to live in the first place; Ansem saw the potential in Ienzo to become a valuable researcher. He couldn't let Ienzo get distracted by the useless drivel that would surely be thrown at him by the mediocre public schools, risking the degeneration of his brilliant mind. While Ienzo stayed in the castle, his focus could be absolute.

Ienzo rolled over and sighed, pressing his face against his pillow in exhaustion. If he were to fall asleep immediately, he calculated he would have four and a half hours of sleep before he would wake up to read about Xehanort and the others' activities. Not terrible, he admitted to himself, but definitely not ideal if he planned to keep his mind in top shape.

The room was completely dark around him, other than the glow of his alarm clock and the faint shimmer of lights out the window. The castle was completely silent, and not even the sound of birds or bugs penetrated his room from the outside. For those few minutes before he fell asleep each night, the world was completely at peace.

As Ienzo felt his thoughts slowly drifting off and his weariness overwhelming him, he faintly detected a knocking on the door. Ienzo drowsily rolled over to spot Xehanort standing in his doorway, with Braig just outside. Both were dressed in their typical clothes, and Xehanort had his hands in his bulging pockets.

"Ienzo," Xehanort called quietly, "are you awake?"

His mind slowly starting up again, Ienzo sat up and replied, "I suppose you could say that."

"Excellent. If it is not too much of a bother, we would like to borrow the use of your unique abilities for the night."

"What do you want?" Ienzo asked bluntly, his brain not yet ready for the complexities of formal speech.

Braig pushed past Xehanort and said rather obnoxiously, "We want you to make us invisible for a couple hours."

"Right now?" Ienzo asked, rubbing his eyes and wondering just what they wanted to be invisible for at one o' clock at night.

"No of course not right now" Braig answered, rolling his eyes. Ienzo stared in confusion at him, lost as to why they had picked the middle of the night to ask for help.

"Ienzo," Xehanort began quickly, his voice soft and commanding, "we need you to wait for exactly ten minutes and then make both of us invisible. That will provide us ample time to return to our rooms so as not to arouse suspicion. Then, in one and a half hours, we need you to return our visibility. Will you be able to do that?"

Ienzo waited for a moment before answering. He had tried creating illusions in distant places once before, but he had never tried anywhere near as far as Xehanort's room. The effort required to create distant illusions seemed to be significantly higher than creating more proximate ones. And that ignored the fact that it was past midnight and he felt as if he would pass out from exhaustion already. He had never fallen asleep while using an illusion before, so he didn't know if the illusion would remain after he dosed off.

"I'll try," Ienzo replied reluctantly. If he failed, it would be the second time in the week that he had passed out, so there was virtually no way that he could avoid suspicion from Ansem. "But if you do not become invisible before quarter-after, do not leave your rooms. I am likely unable to do what you've asked of me."

"You have our gratitude," Xehanort said while smiling warmly, "we will return to our quarters with all haste."

Before the two men could reach the door, Ienzo called out, "If I may ask, what is it that you intend to do tonight?"

"You will see the results in our experiments tomorrow," Xehanort answered swiftly. And then he was gone.

Knowing that he couldn't remain awake any longer while lying down, Ienzo crawled tiredly from his bed and sat himself on a small metal stool next to the window. Outside he could see many rows of dark houses below, and he could even spot a few pedestrians scurrying hurriedly through the streets, though there were not nearly as many as during the day.

In front of the castle, Aeleus stood solemnly on the steps with his large axe-sword, as he always did, watching for any suspicious behavior. Ienzo had asked months ago if there was another reason that the man insisted on standing guard every night, but after the man had vehemently insisted that there was no other reason, he had dropped the matter.

As the boy stared blankly across the square, the clock on his wall ticked past the five minute mark and inched ever closer to the time when he would have to perform his magic. As much as Ienzo insisted otherwise to his colleagues, his new ability made him slightly nervous. Sure, it was powerful, but as he practiced more and more, he realized just how intricate and unpredictable the act truly was. He could study it for years and never have complete control over all its miraculous complexities.

And while the worst thing that had happened to him so far was losing consciousness, he feared there were much graver consequences if he continued to haphazardly test new illusions.

The clock ticked silently to 12:10 a.m. Ienzo stared up at it blankly for a moment and then slowly closed his eyes, readying himself to make the illusion. As darkness filled his vision, he reached out blindly with his mind, trying vigorously to think of Xehanort and Braig. He desperately needed them to be invisible. If he couldn't follow through on this deal, there was no chance that they could finish their experiments with darkness. He would forever be the youngest of Ansem's apprentices, with no hope of respect or equality. He would be the footnote in the life of the famous Ansem the Wise. If he could not execute this one illusion, his life would be worthless. Over and over, Ienzo repeated in his mind how important the illusion was, as he thought again and again of the two apprentices halfway across the castle, sitting and waiting for his help.

Ienzo's eyes flicked open and gazed shakily down to the street outside the window. He could feel the usual tiredness that afflicted him whenever he fabricated an illusion, but he had no way of discerning whether or not the illusion was successful. Any number of mistakes could have occurred during the process, and the illusion still could have failed altogether.

As he was about to rest his head against the wall, a wave of dread hit the young apprentice, as he imagined the worst possible scenario. What if Xehanort and Braig saw themselves as invisible, but they were visible to all the castle's cameras? Ienzo leaped from his stool by the window and dashed across the room, frantically calculating how he could intercept the two men before they got on with the night's work. But as the gray-haired boy reached the door, he paused and lowered his arm from the door handle.

It was obvious that there was absolutely nothing he could do to help Xehanort and Braig if something went wrong with his illusions. The two apprentices had each other to test their visibility on, so any malfunction in perception was easy for them to prevent. However, Ienzo was alone, so he could never be sure that he would be hidden from the cameras and not just his own eyes. And, in addition to that, Ienzo had no way of knowing where in the castle the two were bound, or if they even intended to stay in the castle.

The young apprentice sighed and returned to his stool, his heart pounding in his chest. His lack of sleep was obviously beginning to affect his decision-making capabilities. Silently, he made a note to himself not to take any action at night without due consideration.

Out in front of the castle, Ienzo noticed that Aeleus was missing from his post. The gray-haired boy leaned against the wall and tried to relax his muscles. Dozens of small, bright meteors shot through the sky outside as Ienzo's breath left a blur of mist on the window.

At least there was one positive of being exhausted by the illusion: it was impossible for him to fall asleep with his racing heart.

* * *

Ienzo was sitting quietly in Ansem's study as the old man strode in behind him and offered up a small blue ice cream bar. Ienzo accepted it gladly and immediately licked the side of the bar to stop it from dripping. That was always the best part of the bar; the first lick of sea salt ice cream, which hit first with a sweet sugary flavor and then with a harsh salty tang.

Ienzo grinned at his master and took another lick, savoring the delicious taste. He couldn't think of any place he'd rather be than sitting with Ansem and enjoying the ice cream. It was one of their oldest routines, meeting up after a full day of researching to snack on some ice cream and discuss their findings. More importantly, it was the one chance Ienzo got to speak personally with his master.

"So," Ansem began, sitting in his large desk chair and biting the first bit off of his ice cream with a smile, "how have you been recently?"

"I can't complain," Ienzo replied happily. "And you?"

"I've been... busy. My work is tiring, but rewarding. I hope to soon be able to find a solution to the problems with our research on the darkness of the heart."

Ienzo chuckled, slightly out of amusement and slightly out of pity. Every day they talked Ienzo would ask how Ansem was, and every day the answer was always the same: tired. It had almost become a running joke between the two.

"I saw you were using the darkness amplifier today," Ansem said, much of his interest directed away from his apprentice and instead at his ice cream. "What area were you studying?"

"I was studying the reactions of small mammals to large amounts of darkness, if you'll recall," the apprentice responded cheerily. "It really is fascinating."

"Indeed," Ansem agreed, sighing loudly afterward. "I do wish I could study more, but I find myself more and more at a loss for time. I worry that I am putting you apprentices at risk by keeping you near such darkness, but I know you are as capable a researcher as any." Ienzo blushed at the flattery, but Ansem continued. "I'm sure that, were your parents alive, they would be very proud of your work."

Ienzo nodded. "Thank you master, you're very kind." As awkward as his response was, he felt a glowing pride that Ansem recognized his worth. Even more than the other apprentices, Ansem was the one person that Ienzo could admire; he was the very best of role models. Ienzo almost thought of him as a father.

"Do you remember your parents at all, Ienzo?" Ansem asked, finishing off the last of his ice cream. "I-I remember some, but-" Ienzo paused; his tongue had met the wood of the ice cream stick.

Ansem's smile slowly turned into a frown. With a slight tone of malcontent he whispered, "I suppose not. In this world you've met many dark beings."

Ienzo slowly retracted his tongue, confused. What was Ansem talking about? Did he mean that Xehanort and the others were too close to darkness? What did that have to do with his parents? The sweet taste of the ice cream was fading in the apprentice's mouth, leaving only the harsh salt.

"That's all that's left in your heart: dark memories." Ansem rose gradually from his seat, his expression turning threatening. "You have been filled with darkness. Your memories of home are gone – each and every one."

Ienzo leaped to his feat, unable to bear the insult silently. "That's a lie! I remember everyone from my home. They were my family."

Ansem laughed maliciously, and suddenly his face began to twist and morph. It stretched and mutated until the face of Braig smirked from atop the labcoat. "And who threw away that family? Maybe it's your own actions that you forgot."

Ienzo stood in utter confusion. It wasn't true! He could remember everyone. He didn't throw them away! He loved them all. Before the fire they were fine. He had seen the fire first that night, but it wasn't his fault... maybe he could have warned them, but ... NO! It wasn't his fault, he didn't know. And Ansem... he wouldn't allow Ienzo to be with the other apprentices. It wasn't fair!

Braig swung his arm forward and pointed his hand directly at Ienzo's darting eyes. His voice echoed off the walls of the study in a booming roar. "You destroyed your home!"

Ienzo let forth a startled scream and awoke with a gasp, clutching his beating chest in fear. The bedroom around him was silent. It was the nightmare again.

His arm shook as he slowly brought it up to his face to wipe his chin. His typically smooth skin were drenched in sweat, so he dragged his covers up to wipe away the salty water. He felt his eyes burning, so he reached up with his fingers only to find small pools of liquid below the lids. It wasn't sweat. It was tears.

* * *

The next morning, Xehanort did not follow through on his promise. There was no explanation of the previous night's activities, nor was there any sign of whether or not the illusions had even worked. The tall, golden-eyed apprentice went about his usual work without so much as a sideways glance at Ienzo's questioning face.

The next day was no different. Or the one after that. In fact, it was dozens of days before Ienzo received any information at all about his fellow apprentices' plans. And it was not from the source he had anticipated.

When Ansem's deep, resonating voice echoed over the intercom early one morning, beckoning Ienzo to his study, the boy had no clue what to think of the order. He had done nothing to make his master angry, nor did he expect to be given any sort of research project due to his inability to use the lab. There seemed to be no foreseeable reason for the order at all. But no matter what the meeting was about, Ienzo felt slightly apprehensive about being called alone. Being alone meant being different, and different was not good. Ienzo wanted to be accepted by the other apprentices, not stand out as strange. He could tell that Ansem still saw him as separate from the others, which was discouraging. Their days of eating ice cream together were over.

That aside, though, Ienzo figured that whatever it was that Ansem wanted to say had no other negative implications. In fact, he thought hopefully as he shuffled across the castle, it might even be some good news. Ienzo couldn't remember how many days it had been since his lab privileges had been revoked, but it could be possible that he would be allowed back in the lab again, which would definitely increase his standing with the other apprentices. Plus it would give him the equipment to see the Heartless firsthand. Creatures of pure darkness, what a wonder! Ienzo could hardly suppress his desire to study them. After all, one who sought darkness ought to understand the creatures of the dark.

And that was his true goal. Even as Ienzo strode towards the lab, his mind constantly wandered to thoughts about the darkness he would soon acquire. The abilities he had already gained from darkness were marvelous for sure, but they would pale in comparison to the power he would inevitably obtain. Darkness truly was the greatest energy in the world, and soon it would be his to manipulate.

As he turned the last corner before Ansem's lab, Ienzo found himself growing excited about whatever news was to come; his thin lips were even curved in a small grin. But he quickly wiped his expression, preparing himself to appear completely professional before his master. Ienzo knocked quietly and stood waiting for a response.

From within the room the young apprentice heard scuffling of feet, and then a slightly disgruntled voice called out, "Ienzo, is that you?"

Ienzo leaned closer to the door, listening for some clue as to what was going on inside. "Yes, it is me. Master, are you feeling well? May I enter?"

"Yes, yes – I mean, of course," came Ansem's still confused voice.

Ienzo pushed open the thick metal door and cautiously entered the room. Ansem was bustling hastily across the circular room in his labcoat, papers were strewn all across the floor at his feet, and heaps of books and loose pages were thrown across the desk. The apprentice paused for a moment in the doorway, and gazed around the room in utter bewilderment; never before had he seen so much as a single stray paper in his master's office, and now the entire room looked like it had been ransacked.

"Ienzo, shut the door behind you!" Ansem commanded loudly.

The force with which the old man barked the order took the boy by surprise, so he quickly spun and slammed the door shut. "Master, are you sure you are all right? What is going on here?"

The elderly man rubbed his temple and felt with his other hand as he sat shakily in his seat. "Ienzo, I-I'm not sure how to explain this... it's all very disturbing. You haven't been in the labs of late, so I don't know if... have you heard of the experiments the other apprentices are performing?"

"Their experiments?" Ienzo's mind was racing as he tried to imagine where the conversation was leading. Obviously something occurring in the labs was frightening Ansem, which could only mean that he had discovered some or all of the other apprentices' records of their research into the darkness of the heart and the Heartless. Apparently, he did not expect that Ienzo was involved with the experiments, which seemed both and encouraging, and slightly degrading. And while Ienzo knew that acting like he was informed about the experiments would increase his odds of being accepted by the others, he also knew that it could very well get him thrown out of the castle for good. And some part of the apprentice still felt a bit attached to the old man, despite his many ineptitudes. The boy paused for a very brief moment, trying to decide what to say. With as little hesitation as possible he stammered, "No, I am ignorant of any recent experiments. Is there a problem?" Of course, what he said was completely true, but he still wondered if his answer sounded convincing enough.

"I assumed so...but, I... my apprentices have delved into dangerous territory with their research. What I started in an attempt to save this world has gone far beyond scientific questioning."

Ienzo could no longer hold back his curiousness. Trying to sound as innocent as he could he asked, "What are they experimenting on, sir?"

Despite the fact that he always tried to sound more mature around the other apprentices, he had found it useful to appear more childlike to his master. No one, not even the ruler of the world, would expect a teenage boy to be so deeply involved in the apprentices' scheming. And the fact that he was rather short for his age only helped his youthful appearance. Ansem had always insisted that it was Even's job to raise, Ienzo, but it was obvious that the old master had become attached to the boy. This particular time, however, Ansem's amber eyes seemed to pierce through Ienzo as he paused, scanning the boy's face, waiting to answer. Ienzo immediately regretted asking the question; it was obvious that he was arousing suspicion.

"...It matters not." the old man finally answered. "If you have no knowledge of what has transpired, then I will leave you to your studies." Ansem rose slowly and crossed the room to a short bookshelf. He wrenched a particularly large tome from the collection and returned to his seat, flipping frantically through the yellowed pages.

Ienzo turned hesitantly and exited back through the door. While things certainly had not gone ideally, he realized that many things could have gone much worse. In fact, he was quite lucky that he would be able to warn the apprentices of Ansem's discovery.

His obvious first destination was Xehanort's room. Earlier in the morning he had noticed that the elder apprentice had retired there after a long night of lab work; probably what had alerted Ansem's attention to the experiments in the first place.

So, without wasting a minute, the apprentice set off for the distant chamber.


End file.
